VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VCB) improved from a 1-Star rating to a 2-Star rating. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs photo illustration by Luis H. Loza Gutierrez)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          No. #: 20181003-001

October 3, 2018

 

VCB Improves to 2 stars

End of fiscal year hospital Star rating shows large improvement in overall quality of services at VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System

HARLINGEN, Texas — Today, as part of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) efforts to remain transparent and hold VA facilities accountable, VA released its end of fiscal year 2018 (FY2018) hospital Star ratings, which evaluate and benchmark quality of care delivery at VA medical centers (VAMCs) across the nation.

Following the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ earlier announcement recognizing it as the most improved VA health care system in the country, VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VCB) was one of the facilities that made positive strides in the benchmarks and is striving to continue progress. VCB improved from a 1-Star rating to a 2-Star rating.

“Our improvements as a health care system are the result of several months of dedicated work from all [VCB] employees,” said Homero S. Martinez, III, VCB acting director. “We have developed an environment of shared accountability and are proud to be a part of this team effort. With that said, we still have work to do and together, we will reach that next star.”

The Star rating designation is designed to help VA identify best practices of its top performing hospitals and share them across VA’s health care system to achieve system-wide improvements.

Compared with data from the same period a year ago, the release of VA’s Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning (SAIL) report shows 66 percent of VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) have improved in overall quality in the third quarter — with the largest gains seen in areas where there were VA-wide improvement initiatives, such as mortality, length of stay and avoidable adverse events. Six VAMCs had a decrease in quality, and improvement activities are underway at each of these facilities.

Additionally, of the medical centers placed under the Strategic Action for Transformation program (StAT), an initiative that monitors high-risk medical centers and mobilizes resources to assist them, eight are no longer considered high risk and 80 percent (12 medical centers) show measurable improvements since being placed under StAT in January 2018.

“There’s no doubt that there’s still plenty of work to do, but I’m proud of our employees, who work tirelessly to move VA in the right direction for Veterans and taxpayers,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie.

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